The stories featured on this page are packages I put together at K*USA-TV in Denver, CO.
Ouray Ice Climbing...On a trip down to the Southwest Corner of Colorado I stopped by the town of Ouray to shoot a feature piece on ice climbing.
Ice climbing is huge in Ouray. Each year thousands of people head there to partake in the extreme sports. |
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Remembering Cole...If you watched the story posted beneath this one, than you already know a thing or two about Cole Rhodes.
This is a follow up Photojournalist Chris Hansen and I did on Cole's basketball team. They made it to the state championship finals - and played their last game for Cole. |
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Story of Cole RhodesA community in northeast Colorado is mourning the loss of an all-star athlete after 17-year-old Cole Rhodes was killed in a car accident Wednesday morning on his way to school.
The Colorado State Patrol says a 20-year-old woman from Littleton failed to stop at an intersection and slammed in to the side of Cole's vehicle, killing him immediately. Authorities say she only suffered minor injuries and charges are pending following an investigation. |
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Jail House InterviewsThe couple from Craig who is accused of stealing evidence from a murder-suicide scene near Kremmling last month appeared in Grand County Court Monday afternoon.
Jerod Reeves, 29, and Kimberly McCaffery, 35, admitted to FBI investigators they stole money and other items, and even sawed the fingers off the hand of a dead body to get a gun. |
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Reindeer ReturnsWhen I was handed the ever so boring 'holiday returns' blah blah blah story, I decided to do something fun with it.
Click on the video box to the right to see the outcome. |
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Remembering DelaneyWhen a 3-year-old girl from Windsor passed away last March from a rare brain tumor, her story captured the hearts - and captivated the minds - of many of our viewers.
To this day I still receive e-mails from people wondering how Delaney Wadsworth's parents are doing. Recently I met up with them to check in. |
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The Accidental MayorIt's a rare occasion when a politician gets to spend more than a decade in office. So imagine our reaction when we heard about an 84-year-old man getting ready to celebrate his 50th year as mayor in a tiny northeastern Colorado town.
We first heard about Virgil Harms through our newstip line. His grandson e-mailed us saying, "You guys should check out my grandfather Virgil! He's about to celebrate a half century as Paoli's mayor." Our first reaction was, "Where's Paoli?" and our second reaction was, "Wow! That's a long time to be mayor." Read more by clicking here. |
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Jingles El Gato PerroI happened to stumble upon this story one day when I was working in Crested Butte. I stopped at the local gas station to fill up my news vehicle for the long drive back to Denver. Before I left, I went inside the attached hardware store to purchase a drink.
When I walked inside I saw a sign for 'Jingles El Gato Perro', followed by a shrine for the lazy cat. I immediately thought to myself," This needs to be a story". So a few months later I returned. Here's the outcome. I shot, wrote & edited this piece. It aired in late November 2011. |
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Reporting back in TimeThe neat thing about Colorado's weather is if you don't like it, wait 24 hours and it will be different.
That was the case this week (10/26/11) when it went from 80 degrees to 30 degrees. My producers wanted me to put a piece together on the stark contrast. Luckily, I planned ahead and shot part of a stand up on the 80 degree day and another part on the 30 degree day. Check it out. |
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Spot News StorytellingEvery so often I run in to a story that turns in to 'spot news'. During Colorado's first large snow fall of the season, I ran in to a man who just survived a terrible accident.
Since he was a character, I was able to have some fun with the story. I also used the opportunity to have some fun with the live shot. Check it out. |
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Surprise Lesson in LifeI tend to get really involved in the stories I'm telling. I've always made that a rule. Simply because if you're not engaged in your story, how are your viewers going to be?
When I was assigned this story, I didn't know what I was in for. I thought it was going to be a fun 'surprise' story... but it turned out to be so much more. I shot most of this over the shoulder very quickly. |
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Cold Case in DenverEvery time I have to report on someone who died I always put in double the amount of effort. I find it important to make their story extra special, since it's likely the last story that will ever be told about them.
I didn't shoot this story, but I did all of the editing. I used a few unique techniques to tell it. |
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Need a job?When President Obama visited Denver in September I didn't want to turn the same generic package that reporters from the other stations were going to turn.
So I decided to head downtown with a white board and an idea. This was a day turn story. In the end, I was pretty happy with it. |
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Quick day turn 4.5 hours AwayFor one reason or another I always tend to cover horse-related stories at KUSA.
We received a newstip about a Crested Butte woman who just rescued 60 horses from being sent to a slaughter house in Mexico. Since I'm based out of Denver, I had to drive 4.5 hours to Crested Butte to tell the story. By the time I got there, the lady had just finished rounding up the horses. She and her friends decided to transfer them to a beautiful ranch in town where the horses could spend the rest of their days. I shot the story quickly, then wrote and edited it just as fast. I had to FTP it back to Denver over the internet so it could make air. The piece aired in September 2011. |
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Turning a good story fast...This is one of my favorite stories at 9NEWS. Oddly enough, it's one of the worst photography jobs I've ever done.
I was assigned to a story at Denver International Airport. The drillers, who rescued the trapped Chilean miners are from Colorado and their families planned a big welcome home ceremony for them. Our timing got mixed up and I got to the airport just in time to shoot the families minutes before the drillers returned. While the photography wasn't good, the editing certainly was. One of my colleagues told me once, "If you're a good editor, you can be a lousy photographer and hide it". That's what happened in this story. I was lucky to have found some great characters too and I wrote the story creatively to make it look more interesting. |
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Operation ReboundThis is one of my favorite stories. I shot, wrote and edited it under deadline. I spent only a half hour in the field shooting this piece, but it turned out really well.
My assignment editor Nadia Gedeon pitched the story to me earlier in the day. As soon as I heard about it I was excited. I met a lot of interesting characters on this shoot. You can watch the story by clicking on the video box to the right. |
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Wildflower Season It's not a word we like to bring up during the summer months, especially after dealing with record amounts of it this past winter. We're talking about snow. For many, it was a hassle to deal with; especially those small mountain towns that were pounded by it.
But in Crested Butte, the fields that were once colored white are now bursting with brilliant blues, purples and reds. |
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Summer Traffic StoryIf you're a reporter in a city with crazy traffic issues, you're likely going to have to do some sort of 'summer construction' piece at least once or twice a year.
On July 3, 2011 I put together a piece on Denver's summer construction projects. I took an unusual approach to it, but it worked out well. Sorta' put a fun twist on an otherwise boring story. You can watch it by clicking on the video box. |
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Rafting DeathIt has been a deadly summer for rafters and kayakers in Colorado.
High water levels have made Colorado's rivers move faster than they have in years. Already this season, 4 people have been killed in rafting accidents. At the end of June, a man was killed rafting with a dozen other folks along the Poudre River west of Fort Collins. Here's a piece I put together for 9NEWS at 10pm on the day of his death. |
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The Mural ArtistKUSA -- Art is bringing a little life to an otherwise lifeless part of a community. There's a garage in Fort Collins known as the Civic Center Parking structure, near Mason Avenue and Laporte Avenue.
For years it has been nothing more than a blank, damp building. Let's be honest here, parking garages aren't necessarily the most visual places. |
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Chroma Fun!If you thought the story I posted below was neat, wait till you see what I did with this one!
The day after the economy story aired, I was handed an assignment to report on a wedlock study. I decided to tell this story through four different people using graphics I created and a chroma-wall. This was a quick day turn. |
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Using Graphics to Enhance your StoryLet's be honest here. Stories about the economy are usually boring.
So when I was handed an assignment recently to report on the number of items consumers would have to pay more for this summer, I decided to do something different. For starters, I used an old interview trick to rope some folks in. I'm not a fan of man on the street interviews, but this trick makes it easy. On top of that, I built some original graphics using photoshop and Edius. Take a look at what you can do to make a boring story a little more interesting. |
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Chalk Art FestivalIt's not often I get to work with one of 9NEWS' talented photojournalists, but recently Kevin Sullivan (photographer) and I put together a Storytellers piece about the Chalk Art Festival in Downtown Denver.
Sully did a fantastic job shooting and editing this story. I wrote and tracked it. Sully and I have worked together a few other times before. You can watch the story by clicking on the video box to the right. |
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The Sounds of Summer...I spent the first weekend of June hiking through Rocky Mountain National Park. I had my SONY EX-1 with me so I could put together a photo essay for 9NEWS. You can watch it by clicking on the video to the right.
KUSA -- Without a doubt, most of you know about the concern for severe flooding around the state of Colorado. Albeit dangerous, the intense flow of water is creating some pretty spectacular sights. If you hike about a half a mile in to Rocky Mountain National Park from Grand Lake, you'll eventually run in to Adams Falls. |
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Flooding Preparations (6/1/11)Here's a story I shot rather quickly in two different locations. I had to front it live at 9pm and again at 10pm.
KUSA -- A good chunk of Colorado could experience record levels of flooding in the next 24 to 48 hours. Areas east of the divide along the Yampa, Colorado and Poudre Rivers are at the greatest risk. The warm temperatures Colorado is seeing this week are melting massive amounts of snow in the mountains, forcing rivers to become bloated. Read the full article by Clicking Here. |
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Storytellers: The UFO Watch Tower (Aired 5/22/11)
Storytellers: The Incredible, not-so-edible, Egg Lady! (Aired 5/20/11)
Running in to a good story...Tornado season is finally upon us. In mid-May I was told to drive eastbound on I-76 (a highway in Colorado). Funnel clouds were reported in the area, but nothing had touched down.
While driving on the highway, I was caught up in a hail storm. Eventually I ran in to a lady who spun around and was locked in a wrong-way lane. I recorded her vehicle the moment I saw it and continued filming when I ran over to help here out. You can watch the story by clicking the play button. |
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Turning an In Depth Story FastOn Monday (April 11) I was handed an exclusive story no one had. The other stations in town wanted this story desperately. But the family involved only wanted to speak to 9NEWS.
I met with the father of a 5 year old girl who was kidnapped by her mother. We recorded an interview which lasted more than one hour. By the time my material was ingested and written, I had 40 minutes to edit my story before I had to front it live. I wish I had a little more time, but I was happy with the end result. |
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Creative Spot NewsMore than anything, I love to cover a good spot news story.
I was fortunate enough to stumble upon one in early April. I was on my way to a different story when I saw a dozen police cars swarm a vehicle in the middle of a busy intersection. You can watch the end result of my story by clicking on the video box. |
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Home opener honors player killed in crashKUSA - This year's home opener for the Ponderosa Mustang's baseball team was extra special. They dedicated their game to a former player who was killed in a crash.
This Friday will mark the eight-month anniversary since the Behn family was killed in a drunk driving crash. Robert, Lisa and their two children, Morgan and Jordan, were heading back from a baseball game in Dallas, Texas when a drunk driver slammed into them just outside of the city. The family was killed instantly. |
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Hidden Explosives in the MountainKUSA - The Colorado Department of Public Safety is calling it a hidden concern. A large number of forgotten explosives are popping up in the mountains. If they're handled improperly, the department says they could be deadly.
It's unclear how many explosives there are, but Scott Narreau, a technical specialist with the department, says it's a lot. |
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Winter Sports Clinic for Disabled VetsFor a second day in a row, Vice President Joe Biden surprised a group of disabled veterans in Snowmass Village.
Biden spent a half hour with the veterans as they geared up for a day of skiing. "It's not everyday you get to meet the vice president," Anthony Radetic, a disabled veteran, said. "He told me he's not that bad of a skier, but he'll have to come out and prove it to me," Radetic joked. Biden was on vacation with his family. The veterans are taking part in the 25th annual National Disabled Veterans Winter Sports Clinic. - My article from 9NEWS.com |
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Wildfire Day 2Every so often I get a chance to work with one of KUSA's talented photojournalists. When the Indian Gulch Wildfire broke out near Golden, I was teamed up with 9NEWS Photojournalist Anne Herbst.
Anne and I drove deep in to Golden Gate Canyon and met some interesting characters. One man was rushing to pack up his most precious items so he and his wife could evacuate. Despite issues with our editing system, Anne was able to knock out one memorable package. You can watch the piece we put together by clicking on the video box to the right side of your screen. --------------------------------------- |
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Wildfire Day 1At the end of March, weather conditions in Colorado felt more like they would in July or August. Firefighters say the dry, warm weather is creating the perfect conditions for a season full of hectic wildfires.
Our first major wildfire broke out on March 20th. It's called the "Indian Gulch Fire". It burned more than 800 acres of land and forced 100 people to evacuate. On the first day of the fire, Photojournalist Kevin Sullivan and I were sent in to the mouth of the fire. We were able to capture some great images from a cabin a half a mile away. To see the report Kevin Sullivan and I put together, click on video box to the right. |
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Delaney's Dying Wish...Delaney Wadsworth passed away on March 14. About a week before, I profiled her during our 9pm/10pm newscasts.
Delaney had a rare brain tumor. It was so rare, only four children in Colorado had it. |
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The Wild Horse Debate...I recently visited the southwest corner of Wyoming to do an in depth story on wild horses. The Bureau of Land Management recently announced it would have to scale back its round up program, due to budget cuts.
Wild horse advocates consider it a big win. More than anything, they would like to see the animals left alone. The BLM says the horses are ruining the land and are unable to survive on their own. |
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Rock Slide Danger...In mid-February, the city of Denver was blasted with a heat wave. We saw temperatures climbing up toward 70 degrees. It was a sigh of relief seeing as how we were below zero only a few days before.
The warm stretch was a blessing, but it also brought some potential danger. When mountain areas deal with cold days one day and warm days the next, the rapid change creates what is called the "Freeze/Thaw" effect. Along Highway 50 in Southern Colorado a massive rock slide knocked out a portion of a well traveled roadway. Luckily, no one was hurt. Our affiliate KOAA gathered video from the actual slide. I went out to Georgetown and focused my story there. Toward the end of my piece I sprinkled in some KOAA video. |
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Gift of Forgiveness...This is one of my favorite stories from 2010.
I was assigned a story about Governor Bill Ritter pardoning 20 people right before Christmas. I decided to call one of the people on the sheet to see how he was handling the news. Little did I know, I'd find a gem of a story hidden in that press release. |
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A Rancher's story...A couple times a week I search through rural, small town newspapers to see what sorta' stories are cookin' in the middle of no where USA.
In January, 2010 I happened to stumble across a small article about a family of ranchers from Salida who have owned the same farm since 1860. On a sunny afternoon, I took a drive over to the mountain town and found out the family was able to keep their ranch alive thanks to Colorado State gambling money |
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Cold Case Solved 14 Years Later...On 2/10/11 I was sent to Denver & Aurora to cover an update in a cold case. Nearly 15 years later, a suspect in the mysterious death of a young mother was captured in Las Vegas. Immediately, I knew it would turn in to a good story. Especially when the victim's parents agreed to talk. I shot everything (aside from the file footage.)
9NEWS.com Article: Nearly 15 years ago, a young mother was brutally murdered and her body was dumped in a Denver alley. On Thursday, police announced they found the man who allegedly killed her. Chester Leroy Todd, 67, was arrested earlier this week in Las Vegas, according to Denver Police. Click Here to read the Full Article |
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Fun with numbers!On Sunday (1/16) I was handed an assignment that required a lot of creativity. The story was about the creation of Denver's 'Big Air' event. The extreme snowboarding event is expected to draw thousands of people to downtown Denver.
A week ago, 9NEWS reported on the initial event. Had I been handed the story on a weekday it would have been easier to tell. More people would have been available to talk. Since resources were scarce on Sunday, I had to do something different. I decided to have some 'fun with numbers' -- since the event is based around numbers. I shot a series of stand-ups and edited in some avid graphics later on. The result is on the left hand side of your screen. |
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Man on the Street Interviews...Man on the street interviews can be difficult. However, if you think creatively -- you can make it a simple and fun process. For instance, in mid-January 2011 I went over to the 16th Street Mall in Downtown Denver, printed out a sign, taped it to my lighting kit pole and attached a microphone to it. Within a few minutes, about a dozen people walked up and voiced their opinions. Watch the story on the right side of your screen.
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Telling 'people' stories...During the summer of 2010 a massive wildfire swept through Boulder Canyon and destroyed more than 170 homes. Hundreds of people were left homeless. In my opinion, KUSA covered the story better than any other station in town. We found people who were affected most by the wildfire and told their stories the best we could. This is one of the stories I told during the wildfire.
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Phoner stories aren't lame...Often times reporters think phone-interview stories are going to be boring because they don't have the 'actual person' on camera; instead, you just have their voice.
I wanted to try something a little different the last time I was handed a phoner assignment. I decided to tape myself talking on the phone with the person. I hooked a wireless microphone up to myself and had a recording device attached to the phone. I also used some editing effects in Avid to help the story move along. The story only took two hours to put together. To see another example of a creative phoner story I did CLICK HERE. |
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Gnome Thief!Whenever I visit colleges and universities to give lectures on Storytelling and One-Man-Banding, I always show this story.
It's about a woman who collecs hundreds, upon hundreds of lawn gnomes. Seem pretty weird? My producers and I thought so too. We were in the afternoon editorial meeting one day trying to figure out which stories we were going to cover for our 9pm/10pm newscasts. When a newstip came in about this woman we knew we had to tell the story. The story wasn't so much about her collection, but the fact that someone snuck on to her lawn overnight and stole most of her gnomes. |
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Traveling stories...Best part of my job: Meeting neat people and traveling to cool places. Over the summer I was given an assignment to head to Yellowstone National Park in the north west corner of Wyoming to do a few stories.
I shot five stories in a two day period. My favorite piece from the trip was a simple story about the beauty of Yellowstone National Park. Halfway through the story I let it breathe. If you ever have a chance to visit Yellowstone National Park, I highly recommend it. To learn more follow this link... |
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Weaving natural sound in...It's important for one-man-band reporters to weave natural sound in to their stories whenever they can (if the story warrants it).
I shot this story in 2010, a few months after a massive wildfire tore through parts of Boulder Country. More than 170 homes were destroyed. Inside some of those homes were valuable pieces of art. By chance, I happened to meet a restoration artist who was hired to fix dozens of paintings. I thought it would make for a pretty good story -- and in the end, I believe it did. I used all sorts of natural sound in the piece. From the cotton swab to driving nats, even file video of our helicopter in the air. |
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Shooting your own stand-ups...Reporters who have to shoot their own stories tend to get agitated when they have to do stand-ups. The reason why they get irritated is simple: Shooting your own stand-ups can be annoying.
First of all, you have to frame and focus yourself perfectly. This could take several takes. If you're lucky, you'll have a flip around screen on your camera so you can see what you look like. Some of the tips I offer Backpack Journalists are: Carry a lighting kit with you -- you can extend the stand to your height and focus in on it to frame yourself perfectly. If you don't have a lighting kit, look for a nearby object that's your size/height. Also, try to add some natural sound in to your stand-ups -- this helps break up the piece a lot and helps with the flow. For instance, in the break in story I shot to right, I taped a three part stand up featuring some natural sound. It was very simple to do. |
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Lighting yourself...If you think shooting a stand-up is difficult for a one-man-band, try setting up three different lighting kits to light yourself perfectly!
That's what I did for the beginning and ending of this story I shot. I recorded it in Studio B at K*USA up against a black background. I set up one light in the back of me (for back-lighting) one to the side of me for a little glow and one in the front of me (with a soft umbrella) to diffuse the light a bit. This story was shot and edited within three hours. |
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Finding the story within the story...As Reporters we like to complain about having to work the holidays...but the truth is, sometimes we find our best stories on those days. I won't call this my 'best story', but I think it was a pretty decent one.
I had to work Thanksgiving Day in 2010. I was assigned a story about a homeless woman who was saved by a firefighter. Apparently she nearly froze to death. I couldn't find the homeless woman; Even the hospitals didn't have her name or information. Instead, I went and talked to the fire fighter who saved her, then drove a few miles over to a group of homeless people. I based the story around them and talked about how difficult it is for them to survive during the cold, winter nights. Having been in Denver for more than a year and a half at that point, I knew where to get the best city shots. I added them in to the story and gathered some tight shots that went along with the story well. |
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Fun with a Photog...Back in December 2010 I had an injury that prevented me from shooting my own stories. For a few weeks I teamed up with photographers. Most of the time I worked with 9NEWS Photojournalist Kevin Sullivan.
Kevin and I see eye to eye on a lot of things. During the time we worked together we produced some pretty good stories. While I prefer working solo, I did enjoy the stories Kevin and I crafted -- especially this one. We were assigned to go to the airport to talk to stranded holiday travelers. We took a simple concept and gave it a creative twist. |
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Gift of forgiveness...This is one of my favorite stories from 2010. Photojournalist Scott Yun and I put it together (I couldn't shoot because of an injury).
We received a simple press release about Governor Bill Ritter pardoning 20 people from their past crimes. We decided to call up one of the people listed on the pardon sheet to see how he was handling the news. Little did we know, we stumbled upon a gem of a story. Here's the finished the product that lead our 9pm and 10pm newscasts that night. |
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Deer Creek Middle School Shooting... |
The Traveling Piano Man...Traveling Piano Man from Kevin Torres on Vimeo. |
A Cold Day in Colorado...Working In The Snow from Kevin Torres on Vimeo. |
Ice Buildup in Colorado...Colorado Ice Buildup from Kevin Torres on Vimeo. |